My research seeks to understand how oceans, lakes, and the climate system interact across a wide range of spatial and temporal scales. I integrate satellite remote sensing, in situ and autonomous observations, reanalysis products, and high-resolution numerical models to investigate the physical and biogeochemical processes that regulate the transport of water, energy, and carbon throughout the Earth system. By combining observations with modeling, I aim to improve our understanding of climate variability, quantify aquatic carbon cycling, and evaluate nature-based solutions for climate change mitigation.
Ocean and Inland Water Dynamics
Water moves across the Earth through a hierarchy of currents, eddies, turbulence, and mixing processes. My research investigates how these physical processes regulate the transport of heat, freshwater, nutrients, and biogeochemical tracers in the ocean and large lakes. By integrating satellite observations with regional and global models, I seek to improve our understanding of aquatic circulation across scales.
Current Research Topics:
- Ocean mesoscale and submesoscale dynamics
- Great Lakes circulation and lake dynamics
- Coastal and shelf processes
- Tracer transport and mixing
- Satellite remote sensing of aquatic systems
Representative publications:
- Guo, Y. and Bishop, S.P. (2022). “Surface Divergent Eddy Heat Fluxes and Their Impacts on Mixed Layer Eddy‐Mean Flow Interactions.” Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems, 14(4), p.e2021MS002863.
- Guo, Y., Bishop, S., Bryan, F. and Bachman, S. (2022). “A global diagnosis of eddy potential energy budget in an eddy permitting ocean model.” Journal of Physical Oceanography.
- Yang, Y., Guo, Y., Zeng, L., and Wang, Q. (2023). “Eddy-induced Sea surface salinity changes in the South China Sea.” Frontiers in Marine Science 10:367.
- Cherian, D., Guo, Y., Bryan, F. (2024). “Assessing Modeled Mesoscale Stirring Using Microscale Observations.” Journal of Physical Oceanography, 54.5 (2024): 1183-1194.
Climate Variability and Air–Water Interactions
The atmosphere and aquatic environments are tightly coupled through the continuous exchange of heat, moisture, momentum, and carbon. My research investigates how interactions between the atmosphere and oceans, large lakes, and coastal waters influence climate variability across regional to global scales. By integrating satellite observations, atmospheric and oceanic reanalysis products, and high-resolution coupled models, I seek to understand the physical mechanisms linking air–water interactions to weather extremes, climate variability, and long-term environmental change.
Current Research Topics:
- Ocean–atmosphere and lake–atmosphere interactions
- Regional climate variability and extreme events
- Large-scale climate modes (e.g., ENSO, NAO, PDO)
- Marine heatwaves and lake heat budgets
- Climate impacts on coastal and inland aquatic systems
- Regional climate modeling and Earth system prediction
Representative publications:
- Guo, Y., Bishop, S., Bryan, F., & Bachman, S. (2023). “Mesoscale variability linked to interannual displacement of Gulf Stream.” Geophysical Research Letters, 50, e2022GL102549.
- Guo, Y. and Timmermans, M-L. (2024b). “The role of ocean mesoscale variability in air-sea CO2 exchange: a global perspective.” Geophysical Research Letters, 51.10 (2024): e2024GL108373.
Carbon Cycling and Climate Solutions
Aquatic ecosystems play a critical role in regulating Earth's carbon cycle by exchanging, transporting, and storing carbon across the atmosphere, ocean, and inland waters. My research investigates how physical circulation, biological activity, and biogeochemical processes interact to control carbon uptake, storage, and redistribution across multiple scales. By combining satellite observations, field measurements, biogeochemical observations, and coupled physical–biogeochemical models, I seek to improve our understanding of aquatic carbon cycling and evaluate nature-based climate solutions, including marine carbon dioxide removal.
Current Research Topics:
- Air–water CO2 exchange and surface pCO2 variability
- Ocean and inland water carbon cycling
- Marine carbon dioxide removal (mCDR)
- Ocean alkalinity enhancement
- Coupled physical–biogeochemical modeling
Representative publications:
- Guo, Y. and Timmermans, M-L. (2024a). “Global ocean pCO2 variation regimes: spatial patterns and the emergence of a hybrid regime.” Journal of Geophysical Research Oceans, 129.5 (2024): e2023JC020679.
- Guo, Y., Chen, K., Subhas, A., Rheuban, J., Wang, Z., McCorkle, D., Michel, A., Kim, H., (2025). “Site selection for ocean alkalinity enhancement informed by passive tracer simulations.” Nature Communications: Earth & Environment.
- Marx, L., Rheuban, J., McCorkle, D., Christopher M., Guo, Y., Martin, E., Wang, Z., Michel, A., Chen, K., Kim, H., Subhas, A., (2026). “The Ecological Activity Index tool for mapping potential ecosystem exposure to ocean alkalinity enhancement.” Nature Communications: Sustainability.
- Subhas, A.V., Rheuban, J.E., Kostel, K., Marx, L., Morkeski, K., Hayden, M.G., Lanagan, T., Dean, C., Burkitt-Gray, M., Guo, Y. and McCorkle, D.C., (2026). “Field notes on public communication and engagement for the LOC-NESS Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement field trial.” ICES Journal of Marine Science.
- Subhas, A. V., Rheuban, J. E., Wang, Z. A., … & Guo, Y., Kim, H., Chen, K., 2025. “A tracer study for the development of in-water monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) of ship-based ocean alkalinity enhancement.” Biogeosciences.
Earth System Modeling and Environmental Data Science
Advances in Earth observations and numerical modeling have transformed our ability to understand and predict environmental change. My research integrates satellite remote sensing, autonomous and in situ observations, reanalysis products, and high-resolution regional and global models to investigate the dynamics of oceans, lakes, and the climate system. By combining diverse datasets with numerical simulations, I develop data-driven approaches to improve Earth system prediction, quantify environmental variability, and support science-based decision making for a changing climate.
Current Research Topics:
- Satellite remote sensing of oceans and inland waters
- Regional and global Earth system modeling
- Data synthesis and environmental reanalysis
- Environmental prediction
- Climate data analysis and visualization
Representative publications:
- Guo, Y., Bachman, S., Bryan, F., and Bishop, S. (2022). “Increasing Trends in Oceanic Surface Poleward Eddy Heat Flux Observed Over the Past Three Decades.” Geophysical Research Letters, 49(16), e2022GL099362.
- Guo, Y., Castillo-Trujillo, A. C., Chen, K., Kwon, Y.-O., Perkins, S., Seo, H., Fratantoni, P., Alexander, M., and Saba, V., (2026). “Multi-Year Predictability of Hydrography and Circulation on the U.S. Northeast Shelf: A Dynamical Downscaling Perspective.” EGUsphere.
